How to Measure Altitude or Height

Shadow Method

• 1

  Place a stick in the ground close to the object that you want to measure on a clear, sunny day.

• 2

  Draw a circular line around the stick, making the distance from the stick to the edges of the circle the same distance as the height of the stick.

• 3

  Wait for the stick's shadow to touch the edge of the circle. When this occurs, quickly measure the length of the taller object's shadow. The length of the shadow at this moment will equal the height of the tall object.

Math Method

• 4

  Spray a line on the ground between two people equaling about 12 feet. Have one person stand at one end of the line, and the other person stand at the other end.

• 5

  Have the person on the left side of the line measure the angle between the top of the object and the reference line. The second person should measure the angle of the object to the ground from his side. Both people measure the angle from the top object to the end of the line, and the angle from the end of the line to the bottom of the object.

• 6

  Insert the angle measurements into the following equation h = (L * tan a * tan d) / ( cos b * tan d + cos c * tan a). The first person's measurements are a and b, and the second person's measurements are c and d.

• 7

  Determine the cosine (cos) by dividing the ground line by angle a. Determine the tangent (tan) by dividing the angle measurement from the top of the object to the ground by the bottom line measurement.

• 8

  Complete the equation to determine the height of the object.